All of us at River Cities Speedway would like to congratulate Wayne Nelson on being elected into the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.

Nelson, the sports editor at the Herald, began his career at the Valley City Times-Record in 1976, then joined the Jamestown Sun (1980-95). He's been at the Herald since 1995, covering primarily UND sports and auto racing.

​He's a five-time selection as the NDAPSSA sportswriter of the year (1986, 1988, 1998, 2001, 2009), has won numerous writing awards and was part of the Herald staff that won the Pulitzer Prize for community journalism during the 1997 flood.

The World of Outlaws four wide during the June 2017 event at River Cities Speedway. Mike Spieker photo.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — November 17, 2017 — The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series will again visit River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., twice in 2018 as part of the Northern Tour. The 1st Leg of the Northern Tour is set for Friday, June 15, with the series returning on Friday, August 17 for the 2nd Leg of the Northern Tour. This pair of races at River Cities Speedway in 2018 marks the 12th straight year the series has visited the high-banked, three-tenths-mile bullring.

This past season, David Gravel and Donny Schatz split wins at River Cities Speedway. Gravel scored his first win at the track in June, while Schatz was victorious in August. The win for Gravel was one of two in North Dakota during the 2017 season as he also visited victory lane at Nodak Speedway in Minot.

The win for Schatz was his ninth with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series at River Cities Speedway. That same night he also won the companion NLRA Late Model race. Schatz has nine wins with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series at River Cities Speedway to lead all drivers. Daryn Pittman, the 2013 series champion, is also a past winner at River Cities Speedway.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series first competed at River Cities Speedway in 2007, with Joey Saldana picking up the win in the inaugural event. A total of eight drivers have been victorious at the track with the series over the last 10 years.

The 2017 campaign was another historic one for the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series as 20 drivers picked up wins. Leading the way was Schatz, who scored his ninth series championship and became the first driver in series history to win 20 or more A-Feature events in five consecutive seasons. David Gravel had a career-year, earning 18 A-Feature wins, which was second only to Schatz. The 25-year-old finished third in points for the second consecutive year.

Brad Sweet was nearly as consistent as Schatz, picking up 72 top-10 finishes just two less than the champion, with 56 of those being top-fives. Sweet visited victory lane five times in 2017 en route to finishing second in points. Pittman ended up fourth in the standings, while picking up three wins, with Shane Stewart, who reached victory lane eight times, rounding out the top-five in points.

Jason Johnson, who won four races finished sixth in points, followed by Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award winner Sheldon Haudenschild in seventh. Kraig Kinser, who had a win was eighth, with Logan Schuchart, who earned a career-high four victories, in ninth and rookie Brent Marks rounded out the top-10.

Information on tickets for both the 1st Leg and 2nd Leg of the 2018 Northern Tour for the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., will be available soon at www.slspromotions.com.

To start the night, Austin Pierce picked up the dash win and earned the 24th starting position for the Blazin’ Back Row Challenge. Jade Hastings, who finished second in the dash, opted to decline the back row challenge and start on the front row for the 35-lap main event. That allowed Mark Dobmeier a chance at the final back row starting spot, which he immediately accepted.

As the green flag waved over the 24-car starting field, outside front row starter Casey Mack took the point while Hastings and Omdahl battled for second.

In the early going, Thomas Kennedy was the highest running Blazin’ Challenge competitor. Kennedy started 19th and cracked the top 10 on lap four. Kennedy, who won the previous night’s main event reached as high as fifth before he slid of the embankment in turn two to bring out a yellow.

Mark Dobmeier was the man on the move after that. The Grand Forks, N.D. driver wheeled his way up to second by lap nine before moving by Mack for the lead on lap 11.

Once out front, Dobmeier couldn’t be touched.

In the late going, the track started to take rubber, but that didn’t slow Dusty Zomer. Zomer also took the Blazin’ Challenge and started 22nd on the field and reached the second position with six to go.

However, he couldn’t do anything with Dobmeier in the final laps as River Cities Speedway’s winningest driver cruised to the biggest NOSA payday in the series’ 23-year history.

Nick Koehler of Bloomer, Wis. backed up his runner-up Happy Harry’s Midwest Modified finish on Thursday night with a dominating performance on Saturday. Koehler grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag as he won the drag race into turn one over Nate Reynolds.

Reynolds ran solidly in second until Scott Bintz found his groove and challenged for the runner-up spot. Bintz took the position on lap seven and went to work on Koehler for the lead, but Koehler had already opened up a comfortable lead out front.

In a race that went caution-free, Koehler stretched out his advantage around the halfway point. However, Bintz was able to reel in Koehler as he entered heavy lapped traffic. Bintz was able to get within two seconds of Koehler, but that’s as close as he would get as Koehler cruised to the victory.

Bintz, Reynolds, Mike Nichols, and Austin Hunter rounded out the top five.

With the win, Koehler also won the three-night Midwest Modified point title bonus.

Preston Carr was the hard-charger of the race, advancing from 24th to 11th.

Jordan Tollakson of Montevideo, Minn. claimed a John Seitz Memorial victory for the second year in a row in the Wells Concrete Street Stocks. Tollakson was the only car in the top 10 to venture up to the high side at the drop of the green flag, and he made it work. Tollakson started fourth on the field and ripped around the cushion to move by Dustin Puffe and Aaron Blacklance. From there, the defending WISSOTA Street Stock national champion put Jeff Crouse in his crosshairs.

Tollakson stayed true to the top side and pulled even with Crouse on lap four before taking the point one lap later. Crouse didn’t give up the lead without a fight, however. Crouse remained side by side with Tollakson for four consecutive circuits before Tollakson was able to clear the No. 29 to take sole possession of the lead.

Once out front, Tollakson set sail and checked out from the field to claim his second career River Cities Speedway victory.

Crouse was followed by River Cities regulars Aaron Blacklance and Chase Boen, as South Dakota driver Joe Engels rounded out the top five.

Current WISSOTA Modified national point leader, Ward Imrie, jumped out to the early lead as Ryan Kereluk and Johnny Broking raced for second. By lap eight, Johnson, who started sixth, had reeled in Imrie for the lead.

The two leaders were approaching lapped traffic as Johnson placed a bid for the lead. Johnson moved to the low side of turns one and two and drove underneath Imrie with 16 to go to take command. Once out front, Johnson opened up an eight car length lead, but Imrie had one last charge left in him.

Johnson got held up by lapped traffic on the highside, which left the bottom wide open for Imrie. Imrie was able to pull even with Johnson, but Johnson was able to slam the door shut.

Imrie stayed within striking distance, but Johnson was able to fend him off in the closing laps to take the checkers.

Matt Gilbertson, Broking, and Tyler Peterson, who started 16th, rounded out the top five.

Don Shaw in victory lane with the family of John Seitz | Mike Spieker Photo

By Mike Spieker​GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 9, 2017) – The 11th annual John Seitz Memorial came to a close Saturday night with a record 211 cars checked in for action. The night was highlighted by the 92-lap, $9,200-to-win Late Model A-main, which was won by Seitz’s brother-in-law, Don Shaw of Ham Lake, Minn.

Shaw has openly said the John Seitz Memorial was at the top of his list of events he’s wanted to win in his career. He has been close on several prior occasions, but victory lane has always eluded him.

“This is so unbelieveable. This is great,” said Shaw in RydellCars.com Victory Lane. “I would have given this race up for the national points if I had to. This race means so much to me and I tell you what he was riding with me tonight.”

On the initial start, Jeffery Massingill and Jake Redezkte made contact in turn one which resulted in a four car pile up. Redezkte and Dustin Strand, who was also involved in the incident, restarted at the tail of the field.

The Evergreen Insurance restart brought the field back to green, where 2017 NLRA series champion, Ricky Weiss, powered around the outside of AJ Diemel to take the lead. Seitz Memorial rookie, Ryan Mikkelson, made waves early as he moved into the second position briefly before a mechanical failure forced him pitside.

Weiss led the first 10 trips around the three-tenths mile bullring before Shaw, who started fourth, drove underneath him following a restart on lap nine. Weiss tried to battle back as Diemel, Zach Johnson and Joey Pederson all battled within the top five.

Shaw immediately began driving away from the field and ran unchallenged up to the fuel stop on lap 32.

As the race resumed, Diemel drove around Weiss for second, while 21st place starter, John Kaanta, drove around Pederson for fourth. Towards the halfway point of the event, Shaw and Diemel distanced themselves from the rest of the field, which set up a mirror image of last year’s classic battle between the two veteran drivers.

Diemel closed to within one car length of Shaw in lapped traffic and placed a bid for the lead, but Shaw was able to power away once he found open track.

A caution with four to go set up a dramatic finish with Diemel, who was in search of becoming the first driver to win three Seitz Memorial championships, right on the rear bumper of Shaw. Diemel put heavy pressure on Shaw in the final laps, but the driver of the Shaw Trucking No. 42S was up to the challenge. Shaw ran a flawless lap as the white flag flew with Diemel just two car lengths behind. Shaw took the checkered flag to become the ninth John Seitz Memorial winner in its 11-year history.

“I have had just an incredible year. I don’t know if it’s one I could ever repeat,” continued Shaw. “I am just so thrilled to finally, finally get this one down. [John and I] have been competitive since the day we met each other. Everything from snowmobiles to race cars, everything. We did a lot of stuff together.”

Diemel and Weiss rounded out the podium. Scott Ward finished fourth from 15th, as Kaanta rounded out the top five from the 21st starting position. Brad Seng started dead last on the field with a past champion’s provisional and drove through the field to finish sixth. Last chance race winner, Nick Anvelink, finished seventh after starting 25th.

Strand had a notable run after restarting last following the lap one incident. The 2016 WISSOTA Late Model national champion raced through the pack and ran in the top five for the majority of the event, but was involved in a late race incident, which ended his night.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 8, 2017) – Thomas Kennedy started fifth on the 24-car grid for the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Car Blazin’ Challenge feature before taking the lead and lapping up to fifth place in the process. ​

It took the driver of the Kennedy Floorings No. 21K exactly half the race to make it up to leaders Nick Omdahl and Austin Pierce, but once he did, he was able to get by them and set sail.

“The car was great. It took me about five laps to get my rhythm going because there was so much going on in front of me,” said Kennedy in RydellCars.com Victory Lane. “I just tried to be patient because you can’t win the race on the first lap. Once I got into cleaner air, I was able to pick them off one by one and take the lead.”

Kennedy took the lead on lap 13 and opened up a sizeable lead while Omdahl and Pierce fought for second. With five to go, Kennedy had nearly a half lap lead over the rest of the field, but the caution flew with four laps remaining. Omdahl, Pierce, and Mark Dobmeier, who started 19th after having to transfer to the B-main because a wreck in his heat, all lined up right on Kennedy’s rear bumper for the restart.

Two laps were completed before another yellow waved. Pierce and Dobmeier were both able to move by Omdahl before the caution was displayed.

“On the restart with four to go, I don’t think I got a very good start because I got tight,” continued Kennedy. “But on the last restart I picked a different time to take off and it seemed to work a lot better for me.”

Pierce and Dobmeier engaged in a heated battle for second as the race went back to green, which allowed Kennedy to open up a 10 car length lead and take the win; his seventh of the season overall. Dobmeier stole second from Pierce at the line as Jade Hastings snuck into the fourth and final transfer spot for Saturday’s $8,200-to-win Blazin’ Challenge.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Septembe 8, 2017) – ​During intermission, the Late Model revenge draw took place for the top eight drivers in points after the five heat races. Jake Redetzke drew the pole and gave it to AJ Diemel. Diemel then drew the second starting position and returned the favor to Redetzke. Thursday night’s NLRA season finale winner and WISSOTA national point leader, Don Shaw, was given the eighth position.

Diemel took full advantage of the starting position he was given. He and Redetzke drag raced for the lead on the opening lap, but Diemel prevailed to take the spot. Once out front, Diemel was never challenged as he led all 15 laps to claim the $920 “Go Hard or Go Home” pole dash. Ricky Weiss drove from sixth to finish second, while Redetzke hung on to third. Shaw advanced four positions to finish fourth, while Seitz Memorial rookie Ryan Mikkelson rounded out the top five.

Gilbertson started on the pole of the A-main and jumped out to the early lead over Zach Johnson and Cody Skytland. Johnny Broking was the beneficiary of the lap four restart, which helped him propel from fourth to holding the lead momentarily. Gilbertson leaned on the thick cushion to regain the point, but he and Broking became deadlocked in a great battle for the lead.

Gilbertson held a slight advantage for several laps until Broking found his groove right around the bottom side of the speedway. Broking cleared Gilbertson for the lead with 13 down, but Gilbertson came storming back on the following lap to take command once again.

A late race restart gave Broking once more chance, but as the race resumed he had his hands full with AJ Diemel, who was wheeling Lance Schill’s No. 17. Diemel was able to get by Broking with three to go, but by then Gilbertson had checked out.

Gilbertson, Diemel, Broking, Johnson, and Blake Jegtvig rounded out the top five.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 8, 2017) – Ricky Hamel crossed the N.D. Eye Clinic start/finish line first at the conclusion of the Happy Harry’s Midwest Modified feature. However, Austin Hunter was granted the win. Hamel’s machine came across the scales 16 pounds under weight, which granted an automatic disqualification. For Hunter, the win marked his second win of the season at River Cities Speedway.

Hamel dominated the 24-car main event, leading all 20 trips around the three-tenths mile dirt oval.

The race was red flagged after the lap 12 restart for an incident that collect six machines. Troy Randall got upside down in the melee, but was able to return to action and still salvaged a fifth place finish.

Hunter put pressure on Hamel in the closing laps, but Hamel was able to hold off the Winnipeg, M.B. driver to beat him to the checkered flag. Last Friday’s winner, Jeremy Lizakowski finished behind Hunter as Matt Gilbertson finished fourth in Lance Schill’s machine.

By Mike SpiekerGRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 7, 2017) – A stout field of 44 WISSOTA NLRA Late Models were checked in for the series finale Thursday night at River Cities Speedway for the Prelude to the Johnny.

Don Shaw dominated the 25-lap Performance Auto main event to score his second win of the season at River Cities and second consecutive NLRA feature win. Shaw started on the outside of the front row and led every trip around the high-banked three-tenths mile bullring en route to the $1,192 payday.“This is huge,” said Shaw in RydellCars.com Victory Lane. “Three nights ago we flipped a car, had to rebuild a different one, throw a motor and stuff in it and get it ready for [the John Seitz Memorial]. I had no idea what we had coming into tonight so to win with all of these guys here in a car I haven’t even ran before is unbelieveable.”Shaw grabbed the lead away from Jake Redetzke on lap one before cruising out to a comfortable lead. On lap five, the caution was displayed for a spin in turn four. Under yellow, the front straightaway lights went out, forcing the race to be red flagged. It took approximately 15 minutes for the lighting to come back on, and when it did, Shaw picked up right where he left off. Redetzke ran in second with Dustin Strand and newly crowned NLRA series champion, Ricky Weiss breathing down his neck. With seven to go, Redetzke was able to reel in Shaw, closing to within one car length. Both Shaw and Redetzke ran the low side of the speedway and once they reached lapped traffic, Shaw was able to pull away once again. Shaw ran the final laps uncontested as he took the checkers over Redetzke, Strand, Weiss, and John Kaanta. “This event is absolutely at the top of my list,” continued Shaw in victory lane. “I’m in a national point race right now so tonight helped out tremendously, but I would love get it done tomorrow again. That would be icing on the cake. But of the 45 cars that are here, 30 of them are winners.”B-main winner, Ryan Mikkelson, drove from 16th to seventh, while two-time Seitz champion AJ Diemel picked up the hard charger by advancing from 18th to eighth. RESULTS:A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 42S-Don Shaw, [1]; 2. 27-Jake Redetzke, [2]; 3. 71-Dustin Strand, [3]; 4. 7W-Ricky Weiss, [7]; 5. 85-John Kaanta, [8]; 6. 19-Steve Laursen, [5]; 7. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson, [16]; 8. 58-AJ Diemel, [18]; 9. 11D-Pat Doar, [9]; 10. 4C-Ryan Corbett, [10]; 11. 37-Scott Ward, [4]; 12. 2-Bill Mooney, [12]; 13. 90-Lance Matthees, [11]; 14. 15A-Nick Anvelink, [14]; 15. 50-Jeff Wildung, [13]; 16. 10-Mike Balcaen, [19]; 17. 7P-Joey Pederson, [21]; 18. Z17-Zach Naastad, [20]; 19. 4-Shane Edginton, [17]; 20. 9-Steve Anderson, [23]; 21. 14-Brody Troftgruben, [25]; 22. (DNF) 16S-Jeff Hapala, [15]; 23. (DNF) 71M-Chad Mahder, [6]; 24. (DNF) 1R-Travis Robertson, [24]; 25. (DNF) 12S-Brad Seng, [22]; (DNS) 13-Bryan LePier,

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 7, 2017) – The Happy Harry’s Midwest Modified feature got off to a rocky start as Preston Carr looped his machine in turn two and collected five other machines on the opening lap. Joe Henninger, Brock Gronwold and Logan Salazar got caught the worst end of the melee. Gronwold and Carr were both able to continue while Salazar and Henninger were done for the night. ​

On the complete Evergreen Insurance restart, Hunter Hougard powered into the race lead over Nick Koehler on lap one. Behind them, Matt Schow and seventh place starter, Tyler Peterson jostled for the third position.

Peterson moved by both Schow and Koehler on the low side of turns three and four to take second at the completion of lap two. From there, Peterson, a two-time River Cities Speedway Midwest Mod track champion, set his sights on Hougard for the lead.

Peterson drove underneath Hougard for the lead on lap four before Hougard, Koehler, and Schow raced three wide for second the following circuit. Schow drove from fourth to second using the inside of the speedway as he and Peterson looked to run away from the field.

On the final lap, Schow was right on the rear bumper of Peterson heading into turn one in lapped traffic. A lapped car bobbled in front of Peterson, which forced Schow into the back of Peterson in a chain reaction sequence. The contact sent Peterson spinning into the infield and the caution was called on Schow.

On the green-white-checker restart, Koehler, who inherited the second position, gave Peterson everything he had, but it wasn’t enough as Peterson picked up his 11th career Midwest Mod feature win at River Cities.

Koehler, Hougard, Troy Randall, and Dylan Goplen, who started 13th, rounded out the top five.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 7, 2017) – Bo Gregor of Lisbon claimed his first career River Cities Speedway win in the Wells Concrete Street Stocks. Gregor started on the outside of the front row for the 20-lap main event with Jeremy Gust of Strathcona, Minn. on the pole. ​

Gregor and Gust battled side by side for the race lead for two consecutive circuits before Gregor cleared Gust on the highside. Gust came storming back to lead lap four, but Gregor found his groove on the highside again to reel him back in and reclaim the point.

Seventh place starter, Ryan Johnson, moved into third on lap five as a five car pack battled for fourth behind him.

Gust stayed persistent on the bottom and reclaimed the lead on lap six. Gregor stayed true to the topside, however, and drove back around Gust the following lap.

Once in open track, Gregor opened up a sizeable advantage over Gust and Johnson. Johnson reeled in Gust with four to go to take second as Gregor cruised to the win by nearly two and a half seconds.

Dan Aberle and Kyle Dykhoff were able to sneak into third and fourth, respectively, as Gust rounded out the top five.

The 11th annual John Seitz Memorial kicks off Thursday, September 7th with the 7th annual "Prelude to the Johnny" featuring the season championship for the Northern Late Model Racing Association! Racing continues with a full Premier Racing Series program on Friday, culminating to the 92-lap, $9,200-to-win Late Model feature honoring former Late Model driver John Seitz on Saturday. ​

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 1, 2017) – ​After finishing second to Mark Dobmeier last week, Chris Ranten led all 25 laps of the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Car feature for his second win of the season. Ranten beat Austin Pierce into turn one on the opening lap from the outside of the front row to take the lead. Ranten had no time to get comfortable out front as he caught the tail of the field on lap two.

Ranten efficiently sliced through lapped traffic and put four cars between himself and Austin Pierce. The race was marred by two red flags, the worst of which came on lap 10 when Jordan Adams took a hellacious ride down the front straightaway. Adams and Ty Hanten got together, which spun Adams and dug his left rear tire into the track. From there, Adams had to hang on as his Home of Economy No. 20A flipped a total of six times down the front straightaway into the entry of turn one. Adams fuel cell was ripped from the car and flew over the catch fence, over part of the turn one grandstand, and landed in a nearby vacant campground approximately 80-100 yards from the incident. The 21-year-old driver claimed from his mangled machine and was immediately checked out by the Altru medical staff. Adams was reported to be ok, despite some minor injuries. The second red flag occurred with five laps to go when Jack Croaker was exiting the racing surface. As he was doing so, Rick Bates climbed the left rear of Croaker and flipped end over end twice into the infield. Both Bates and Croaker were ok. When the race resumed, Ranten paced the field as Pierce and Wade Nygaard gave chase. Nobody had anything for Ranten as he cruised to the win over Pierce, Nygaard, Casey Mack and Nick Omdahl. RESULTS:A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 27-Chris Ranten, [2]; 2. 2A-Austin Pierce, [1]; 3. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [4]; 4. 8-Casey Mack, [3]; 5. 0-Nick Omdahl, [6]; 6. 99-Jordan Graham, [12]; 7. 10TRB-Bob Martin, [21]; 8. 8H-Jade Hastings, [5]; 9. 31-Shane Roemeling, [13]; 10. 1AJ-Trevor Mell, [9]; 11. 26-Blake Egeland, [15]; 12. 12-Brayden Pengilly, [17]; 13. (DNF) 91M-Jackson Moffett, [8]; 14. (DNF) 6-Zach Wilde, [11]; 15. (DNF) 14-Tom Egeland, [14]; 16. (DNF) 4M-Cale Mack, [16]; 17. (DNF) 8C-Jack Croaker, [23]; 18. (DNF) 42-Rick Bates, [18]; 19. (DNF) 51-Alex Larson, [19]; 20. (DNF) 20A-Jordan Adams, [7]; 21. (DNF) 13T-Ty Hanten, [10]; 22. (DNF) 24-Jon Sorenson, [20]; (DNS) 22-Tanner Wisk,

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 1, 2017) – The Performance Auto WISSOTA Late Models put on a wild show during their 20-lap main event. It all began with Bill Mooney checking out from the field in the early going, just to have contact with lapped cars ruin his night. ​

Mooney started on the outside of the front row and opened up a comfortable advantage right at the drop of the green flag. Within several laps, Mooney held nearly a half-lap cushion over NLRA rookie of the year contenders, Travis Robertson and Brody Troftgruben. When Mooney encountered his first lapped car, Bryce Reimer, he suffered severe damage to the right side of his machine. Reimer began to spin just as Mooney was driving by, which resulted in heavy contact between the two drivers.

Mooney kept trucking forward, though, before reaching Nick Minske. In nearly identical fashion, Minske and Mooney made significant contact as well in turn two, which ended Minske’s night and cut down Mooney’s right rear tire.

Mooney’s crew was able to get the tire changed in time for the restart, but he had to rejoin the field at the tail. He would salvage a sixth place finish.

Robertson inherited the lead with 10 laps to go. Robertson held the point with Mike Balcaen and Ricky Weiss breathing down his neck. The final caution was displayed with three laps to go.

On the restart, Weiss moved by Balcaen for second and put Robertson in his crosshairs. On the final lap, Weiss moved to the inside of Robertson for the lead in turn one and the two got together. The contact resulted in a steering component breaking in the left front of Robertson.

Weiss drove away to take the win, as Robertson slowed significantly in turns three and four. Balcaen got into Robertson, which then started a chain reaction wreck at the finish line.

Robertson spun across the line to finish second, as Balcaen, Brad Seng, and Joey Pederson rounded out the top five.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 1, 2017) – Lapped traffic was the demise of Matt Schow’s solid run in the Happy Harry’s WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature. Schow took the lead over Gary Nelson on the opening lap before departing out to a 10 car length lead over Jeremy Lizakowski.

Schow extended his advantage further before reach the tail of the field. Schow maneuvered past the first lapped cars with little trouble, but he broke his momentum when he reached a pair of cars racing side by side. Schow moved to the inside to make it three wide in turn two, but one of the drivers began to lose the handle on their machine, which forced Schow to stab the brake.

That’s all it took for Lizakowski to reel in the McIntosh, Minn. driver.

With seven laps to go, Schow and Lizakowski reached a traffic jam of lapped cars. That’s where Lizakowski made his move.

The driver of the No. 96 machine went to the top of the race track and drove around Schow amidst four other lapped cars. Schow tried to battle back, but was pinned to the inside in traffic.

When the leaders reached open track, Lizakowski had an eight car length lead over Schow with three laps remaining. Lizakowski rode around the fast and tacky bullring to claim his first-ever win at River Cities Speedway.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 1, 2017) – Josh Barker jumped out to the early lead of the Wells Concrete WISSOTA Street Stock feature. Barker, of Thompson, N.D., pulled away to a 10 car length lead by lap two as Ron Olafson, Tiffany Noreikis, and John Halvorson battled for second.

On lap four, Halvorson moved around Noreikis for third and set his sights on Olafson. ​

Halvorson quickly closed in on Olafson, but struggled to get around the Performance Auto No. 76. The two drivers battled side by side for the runner-up position for six consecutive laps before Halvorson was finally able to clear Olafson in turn four.

With five laps remaining, Halvorson had clean shot a Barker for the lead, but Barker had opened up a full straightaway advantage. Halvorson steadily closed in on Barker, reaching his rear bumper with two laps to go. When the white flag flew from the Valley Sunrise Properties flagstand, Halvorson made his move.

Barker pushed up the track in turn one, which allowed Halvorson to peek underneath. Barker had the momentum exiting the corner to regain the lead, but he pushed again in turn three.

Halvorson drove underneath him once again as they drag raced to the North Dakota Eye Clinic finish line, where Halvorson edged out Barker by a half car length.

The win was Halvorson’s first Street Stock win at River Cities Speedway since September 4, 2009 and 10th overall win at the Bullring.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (August 25, 2017) – Despite threatening skies all round most of the afternoon and evening, River Cities Speedway was able to get the complete night of racing in with no delays. Joey Pederson, Lance Schill, and Ryan Johnson claimed WISSOTA PolyDome Dirt Track Series wins, while Mark Dobmeier raced to the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Car victory. ​

Joey Pederson scored his second Performance Auto WISSOTA Late Model win Friday at the Bullring. Pederson led all but one of the 20 laps during the main event, but he had his hands full with multiple contenders throughout the duration of the race.

In the early going, Bill Mooney appeared to have the faster car and put pressure on Pederson for the lead. Around the halfway point, Mooney had a run on Pederson in turns one and two, but he ran out of real estate exiting the corner and got into the back of Pederson. As a result, Pederson spun around, bringing out the caution, which was charged to Mooney.

On the restart, Pederson jumped out to the lead once again, but he was soon challenged by defending WISSOTA Late Model national champion, Dustin Strand. Strand momentarily took the lead with five to go, but Pederson fought back to regain the point.

The two veteran drivers then went head to head for the remainder of the event. With the white flag in the air, Strand tried to make something happen on the low side of the speedway. He hit the moisture on the bottom of turns three and four and pulled even with Pederson, but Pederson had the momentum up top. At the Valley Sunrise Properties Flagstand, Pederson edged out Strand by a mere one-tenth of a second.

Travis Robertson scored a career-best third place finish, as Zach Naastad and Shane Edginton rounded out the top five.

Lance Schill resumed his River Cities hot streak in the Happy Harry’s WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds. Schill picked up his fifth consecutive win at the three-tenths mile dirt oval, as well as the clean sweep of the night after winning his heat earlier in the night.

The Langdon driver took the lead from Nate Reynolds on lap two of 18 and went on to lead the rest of the event. Reynolds remained in contention throughout the race, but wasn’t able to muster up enough to get back by the Schill Construction No. 17.

The win was Schill’s fifth Midwest Mod win of the season at River Cities and sixth overall.

Wells Concrete WISSOTA Street Stock point leader, Ryan Johnson, extended his advantage over Daniel Aberle with his division-leading seventh win of the season.

Johnson led all 15 laps in what was a dominating performance by the Karlstad, Minn. driver. All the action was behind Johnson in the closing laps, Matt Beehler, Aaron Blacklance, Adam Burrows and James Meagher all battled for the final two podium positions.

In the end, Johnson took the win by over three seconds over Beehler and Burrows. Daniel Aberle and 13th place starter, Dan McNamee rounded out the top five. Tucker Pederson was the hard charger of the race, advancing from 15th to sixth.

Mark Dobmeier cruised to yet another Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Car feature win. Dobmeier took the lead from Chris Ranten on lap 11 with a big slide job in turns one and two. Dobmeier dove to the inside of Ranten and slid up the track as the two drivers made heavy contact. Ranten jumped over the left rear of Dobmeier as he tried to dive to the inside of the No. 13, which sent Ranten’s front wheels four feet into the air.

Both drivers were able to regain the handle on their machines, with Dobmeier leading, while Wade Nygaard took advantage to slip into second.

Austin Pierce quickly moved by Ranten for the third spot before chasing down Nygaard and taking second.

With five laps to go, a caution waved which put Pierce right on the rear bumper of Dobmeier for the restart. However, a broken driveline component forced Pierce pitside and out of the event. Pierce’s DNF brought an end to his NOSA top five streak, which dated back to May 12th.

On the restart, Dobmeier raced away from the field to claim his fourth win of the season at RCS. Ranten recovered to finish second, while Nygaard, Jordan Adams and Nick Omdahl rounded out the top five.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (August 18, 2017) – Donny Schatz had a night for the record books Friday at River Cities Speedway. The Fargo driver picked up wins in both the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series main event, as well as the NLRA late model feature.

“What a fun night,” said Schatz in victory lane. “I couldn’t feel my car out very well in the sprint car feature. I think I might have been kind of played out after that late model race. Normally running that many laps isn’t too draining, but tonight it was.”

Schatz started fifth on the grid for the 40-lap World of Outlaws A-main. The driver of the Arctic Cat / Tony Stewart Racing No. 15 bided his time for the first 10 circuits before jumping into the second position on lap 11.

From there Schatz set his sights on Kasey Kahne Racing driver Brad Sweet and the two veteran drivers put on a great battle for the lead.

“I was pretty committed to the top and (Sweet) forced me to the bottom to go by him,” continued Schatz. “I used my tires up too much running down low, but I just had to go where he didn’t. I just had to stay patient and wait for lapped traffic. He couldn’t move around in lapped traffic and I was able to get up to the top and do what I needed to do.”

Schatz led the final 20 laps to record his seventh win at River Cities Speedway in the last 10 races.

On Saturday, Schatz will return to his home track at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, where he’ll look to continue his winning streak.

“The atmosphere of being around the hometown fans is something you can’t describe,” Schatz said. “It only happens once a year so it’s really exciting. I can’t wait for Saturday and I hope we can be as good as we were Friday.”